Reader Mailbag: How to Deal With Shady Recruiters

We’ve seen this all too often — the ol’ bait and switch routine. A recruiter seems legitimate, tells you about a fantastic new opportunity and when you start pursuing it, poof! Just like that it’s no longer available but let me tell you about another one that is just as wonderful…

All recruiters are not the same and as per an email we received from one of our readers, she dealt with a shady recruiter and took matters into her own hands.

A recruiter called her about an opportunity but wasn’t able to provide details about the job. Our reader applied to several openings and wanted clarity about the specific position the recruiter called about but alas, the recruiter responded, “I’m recruiting for 60 openings and don’t have details on each one.”

Keep in mind it was for a communications role and the recruiter didn’t ask about communications skills or experience. Instead she commented “on the fact I’d lived in a number of regions.”

She was an internal recruiter and per our reader, “sounded overwhelmed and resentful about it.” Although the talent acquisition professional mentioned a job description would be forthcoming, it was never sent.

Our reader writes, “I never heard back. I wound up calling the executive director of the organization who directed me to the hiring manager. I got an interview and am waiting to hear back.”

When bad recruiters happen to good candidates, our reader did the right thing: Pursue. Find a work around. Get your foot in that door. Sometimes it may not work but at least you can say that you tried.

Our reader tells us, “It could backfire, but in that case, if the company isn’t concerned that recruiters are not representing the company well, you might want to rethink wanting to work for them.”